Tag Archives: letting go

Maybe you’ve seen a leader who has been successful in the past run into a large barrier, a barrier where all the sudden the leadership model changes to a high touch management model. Leadership limits are reached when the belief is that while leadership is good, maybe it isn’t good enough to deal with the current crisis. Instead of letting go there is more control and more demands made of the staff. Initially the results seem positive with more action taking place but eventually the results start to decline. The decline leads to stronger and more forceful limits being imposed and again there is a surge of energy and then poorer results.

Leaders who start to constrict their organization soon choke the creativity and passion out of the staff. Customers start feeling like they aren’t cared for as the organization slowly inhibits communications. Transparency shrinks and eventually open communications is silenced. A thread of fear starts to run through the internal network and rumors sprout. What used to be a supportive organization suddenly becomes defensive, the posture of more control is better.

The cycle of negativity grows in a spiral, more taken away, more rules put into place and eventually the top performers start to move away from the pressure and seek placement in roles in other places.

Leaders that have reached their limit should try to let go to grow. That is a leader needs to back away from close in management and be willing to listen to the voices throughout the organization.

What do you think?

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.”